Mountain View Celebrates the Arts in October

We're giving away prizes worth over $800!

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Six local arts organizations are joining the City of Mountain View's celebration of Arts Month by donating tickets, gift certificates and vouchers that will be given away for free. These prizes have a total value of over $800, and are being provided by Art-N-Fun, the Community School of Music and Arts, the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, Pear Avenue Theater, Talk Cinema and QUADRE.

To qualify for a random drawing for these valuable prizes, get ready to experience art in October and then participate in the "Arts Challenge" by answering a few questions about your experiences. Click here for full details about the prizes.

Download the Arts Challenge entry form.

Experience the visual arts in Mountain View

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Are you looking for ways to experience art in Mountain View? To complete this part of the Arts Challenge, you are welcomed to take the time to enjoy some of the visual art offerings available for free in the city.

Throughout the year, works of local artists are on display in the lobby of the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts (MVCPA) on a rotating basis. The lobby is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 12 pm until 1:00 pm and one hour prior to every public performance. MVCPA is located at 500 Castro Street in downtown Mountain View (at the corner of Castro and Mercy Streets).

Currently, the work of Marianne Lettieri is featured in the MVCPA lobby. Ms. Lettieri creates dream-like, playful and enchanting collage assemblages, in a quirky style that recalls both American folk art and the work of the artist Joseph Cornell. Ms. Lettieri's exhibit will be on display through October 15.

From October 20 through December 20, the art of Brent Townshend will be on display at MVCPA. Be sure to see his mind-bending photographs of panoramic urban photographs, distorted with a fish-eye lens.

You can also bike around Mountain View and look at public art, on view 24/7, every day of the year. To plan your trip, please refer to the City’s new interactive Public Art Map. Click on any black circle with a number in it and you will see a photo of that art piece.

Both the art on display at MVCPA, and the public art on view in our parks and on or near our public buildings, are there for your enjoyment because of the support of the City Council and the City of Mountain View Visual Arts Committee. The Visual Arts Committee is dedicated to promoting the visual arts in our community, and guiding the City Council in their selection of artists for public art.

Mayor to proclaim October as Arts Month

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The Arts Month Planning Committee is pleased to announce that Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga will proclaim October 2009 to be National Arts and Humanities Month in the City of Mountain View. Mayor Abe-Koga will deliver the proclamation at the City Council meeting in City Hall on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 7:00 pm. All members of the public are welcomed to attend and to hear the Mayor speak about the importance of the arts in the community.

"The proclamation will not only recognize the achievements of Mountain View arts organizations and artists, but also inspire new commitments and collaborations within the community to support the arts," said Mayor Abe-Koga.

October Library Display

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In October the City of Mountain View Public Library will dedicate a display area to our city's celebration of National Arts and Humanities Month. Look for it at the top of the stairs on the second floor. There you can find the things to make it easy to take the October Arts Challenge, including the Arts Challenge form itself. Once you've completed the Arts Challenge form, you can either mail it in or you can put it in a special mailbox that will be at the library.

To appreciate art, at the display area pick up and take home your own copy of Public Art, a guide to the public art in Mountain View -- both city and corporate-owned -- while the supply lasts. To help you create art, choose from the selection of arts-related books that will be conveniently displayed and available for check-out.

In case you are someone who needs additional motivation, did you know that Mountain View Reads Together is having an art contest with a due date of November 2? You can enter a piece and it will be displayed in the library lobby throughout November (the month that Mountain View Reads Together activities will take place).

Celebratory banner to be displayed in City Hall

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The arts play an important role in building a community. For example, one Mountain View-based nonprofit organization recently undertook a creative project to showcase the people and the city that it serves. In April and May 2009, Mesa de la Comunidad Mountain View arranged to have photographs taken of almost 100 local families at three community events. The organization then created a large banner collage featuring a number of the family portraits, as well as several landmarks in the City of Mountain View. (Each family was also given a print of its photo.)

The banner will be displayed in the City Hall Rotunda from October 5 through October 31 as part of Mountain View's celebration of Arts Month. Come discover this local art piece and see how many people you recognize! City Hall is located at 500 Castro St. in Mountain View.

Mesa de la Comunidad Mountain View's mission is to advocate for and increase participation of underrepresented groups in Mountain View’s civic and business life. Three focus areas of this all-volunteer organization are (1) education (scholarships & outreach), (2) community building and (3) advocacy.

Funding for the family photos and the banner was provided by 1stACT Silicon Valley's Multicultural Arts Leadership Initiative.

What are the prizes for the random drawing?

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Take the challenge to celebrate the arts in Mountain View. Tell us about your experience by filling out your "Arts Challenge" entry form in October and returning it by November 6. You'll be entered in a random drawing for great prizes generously provided by local organizations! The prizes that will be given away include:

Three $75 gift certificates for classes or camps at the Community School of Music and Arts in the spring, summer or fall 2010
Four tickets for performances at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts (value of up to $50 each)
Two tickets to QUADRE's Horns for the Holidays concert on December 8, 2009 (value of $18 each)
Four tickets to Talk Cinema in Palo Alto (value of $20 each)
One voucher for a birthday party at Art-n-Fun in Los Altos (value of $156); will expire on December 15, 2010
Five vouchers for an introductory clay/art class at Art-n-Fun in Los Altos (value of $26 each); will expire on December 15, 2010
Two tickets to a performance at Pear Avenue Theatre (value of up to $30 each)

Each winner of the prizes provided by the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, QUADRE, Talk Cinema and Pear Avenue Theatre will receive a pair of event tickets.

Download the entry form here.

What is this all about?

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Since 1993, hundreds of organizations throughout the United States have celebrated October as National Arts and Humanities Month (“NAHM”). The event is now the largest annual celebration of the arts and humanities in the nation, and has encouraged millions of Americans to renew or begin a lifelong habit of active participation in these disciplines.

This year, representatives from the City of Mountain View’s Performing Arts Committee and Visual Arts Committee, the Community School of Music and Arts, the Central Business Association and other organizations have formed a planning committee to launch a local celebration of NAHM in Mountain View, California. The purposes of the planning committee’s activities are

to increase awareness of the importance of the arts in Mountain View, and
to lay the groundwork for an annual celebration of NAHM in Mountain View.

The committee is organizing an Arts Challenge in which community members will be asked to complete a fill-in-the-blank letter, describing ways in which they appreciated and/or created art in Mountain View in October 2009. The "blank" letter will be available to download from this blog and the websites of local organizations; and hard copies will be available to pick up from the Mountain View Public Library and other central locations. Individuals who submit completed letters (at the Mountain View Public Library or by mail) will qualify for a random drawing for prizes.

Stay tuned!